5 million GSM subscribers added in May

The GSM operators have added over 5 million subscribers in May as telecom services are becoming increasingly affordable in the country.

This takes the total number of users to 130.6 million in the month, compared with 125.57 million recorded in April, an increase of 4.02 per cent.

Bharti Airtel added 18.5 lakh users during the month, followed by Hutch at 15.1 lakh and Idea had an additional 7 lakh. BSNL had 2 lakh and MTNL, 64, 098.

In terms of subscriber base, Bharti Airtel had 4.07 crore subscribers and a market share of 31.20 per cent, Hutch-Essar had 2.92 crore and a market share of 22.36 per cent, while BSNL had 2.79 crore users, with a market share of 21.43 per cent.

The metro subscribers in the country grew by 3.04 per cent over the previous month, with Delhi recording the highest growth at 3.93 per cent followed by Chennai at 3.59 per cent.

Commenting on the subscriber additions, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general, T V Ramachandran said, "We are pleased with the growth of the GSM subscribers, which is being driven primarily by aggressive network expansions by the operators, coupled with decreasing tariffs and increasing affordability."